André Lefebvre and the Cars He Created for Voisin and Citroën
by Gijsbert-Paul Berk
In addition to his work at Voisin, Lefebvre was in large part responsible for the Citroën Traction Avant, the H series trucks and vans, the 2CV and the DS—to have been responsible for just one of these cars would be worthy of nomination to the Engineering Hall of Fame!
Joseph Figoni: Le Grand Couturier de la Carrosserie Française
Vol. 1: Alfa-Romeo
by Larsen and Erickson
If coachbuilder Figoni is on your radar, you’re in luck because this is the first volume in a series that will cover the five main marques and most minors in about a dozen books. They will break your bookcase and your bank account. But what fun you’ll have!
Mahy – A Family of Cars
by Michel Mahy & David Janssens
“Family” here refers to not just clusters of cars but the actual people behind a collection that now exceeds a thousand items. And they did not play nice! You’d have to live in Belgium to see the cars, or buy this book.
Farman: De l’Aviation á l’Automobile
by Claude Rouxel, Laurent Friry
Built to last forever, Farman cars fell victim to their complexity and the value of the raw materials from which they were made. As the first serious study of the marque, there’s every reason to believe this fascinating and long-awaited book will outlast its subject.
Schweizer Carrossiers – Von den Anfängen bis 1970
by Ferdinand Hediger
Up to the WWII era no serious concours d’elegance would have been without examples of Swiss coachwork. Some of the names in this overview of select Swiss coachbuilders have become so obscure that they may well surprise even native readers.
Moving Beauty: A Century in Automobile Design
by Pierre Théberge & Luc Gagné
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibited 49 important and beautiful cars in 1995; this is the catalog of that show.
Vitesse~Élégance: French Expression of Flight and Motion
by Serge Bellu; Michael Furman photos
This third book about the Mullin Automotive Museum examines the cross-pollination between France’s aero and auto designers between the two world wars. Sounds too complicated? Just drool over the photos!
Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters
by Dennis R. Jenkins & Tony R. Landis
From 500 mph at the end of WW II to exceeding the sound barrier only two years later. Someone was busy . . . and technology advanced rapidly. 50-odd examples of the jet age are shown here.
My 1001 Cars, The Reference Edition
by Gabriel Voisin
This French pioneer aviator and airplane/car maker colored outside the lines and rose to be a captain of industry, rubbing shoulders with tycoons and beautiful women—and died in poverty and obscurity.
French Curves: Delahaye, Delage, Talbot-Lago
by Adatto, Figoni, Hinds; photos by Furman
Twenty-five cars from the Mullin Automotive Museum illustrate the finer points of French coachwork—and it’s not all swoops and chrome.
Preston Tucker & Others: Tales of Brilliant Automotive Innovators and Innovations
by Arvid Linde
The book’s basic premise is true enough: at all times and in all fields there are those who think outside the box. More often than not they are unlauded, misunderstood, and unrewarded in their own time. Worse, they may be forgotten altogether—hence a book like this.
Automobile Design: Twelve Great Designers and Their Work
by Ronald Barker, Anthony Harding (Editors)
The book is a collection of biographical essays of 12 designers of whose work the authors say “the current state of the art owes a lot to the knowledge which other designers have absorbed from them.”